


What other things can you fake?

by All_for_the_andreil



Series: Fake it till you make it [1]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Exy (All For The Game), Consent is Sexy, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Idiots in Love, Light Angst, M/M, Mutual Pining, Neil and Allison are besties, Oblivious Neil Josten, Slow Burn, Super brief renison, andrew and kevin share apartment, fake dating au, foxes are all in college, the trauma is there but it’s bit lighter, they are literally a married couple
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 08:54:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 13,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24967036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/All_for_the_andreil/pseuds/All_for_the_andreil
Summary: Andrew accidentaly tells Nicky he’s dating someone and now he needs a fake boyfriend. And who’s better than Neil? But maybe they realize their feelings aren’t that fake after all ;)-or-Fake dating au no one asked for
Relationships: Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Series: Fake it till you make it [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1931893
Comments: 89
Kudos: 583





	1. Andrew’s fatal mistake

**Author's Note:**

> So far the rating is teen up, maybe it’ll change later, who knows, not me. I’ll put up warnings in front of any chapter if needed.  
> Enjoy

“Oh, we _have to_ find you a boyfriend,” Nicky says excitedly and Andrew is sure he is going to kill someone by the end of the afternoon. Possibly himself, if this continues.

He and Nicky have been sitting in the damn coffee shop for what felt like hours (though when Andrew indiscreetly checks his watch, he finds out it’s only been forty minutes) and Nicky just keeps on talking about how lonely must Andrew feel.

Andrew knows it’s pointless to explain to Nicky he’s perfectly fine on his own and that he definitely does not need a boyfriend. He’s tried telling him all of that billion times before. It has always of worked so far, but now that Aaron started dating Katelyn, Andrew was doomed. There was no escape from Nicky’s evil plans to get him a date.

Nicky rambles on and on and Andrew feel his headache starting again. He has to make him stop somehow.

“…and I was thinking maybe this guy from my economy class, but…”

Andrew doesn’t really listen. He has no interest in going on a date with anyone Nicky finds suitable for him. He is sure that would turn out to be his biggest nightmare. He risks a look at Nicky and with horror realizes he has this determined expression on his face that Andrew does not like at all. He can’t do this.

“I’m seeing someone,” he says quickly when Nicky stops talking for a second to take a sip of his coffee.

Nicky almost – just almost, to Andrew’s disappointment – chokes on his drink. “You are _what_?!”

Andrew bites the inside of his cheek. From all the possible excuses he just had to pick this one. God, he’s so stupid. Nicky’s never letting this go. Andrew hasn’t seen him this excited since the last time he saw Erik. His eyes are wide and his smile bright and Andrew wants to throw up.

“You are seeing someone and you didn’t bother to tell me? Who is it? How long has this been going on? Tell me _now,_ ” Nicky demands. 

Andrew sighs. This was such a bad idea. “I’m not telling you anything,” he says grumpily, eyes fixed on his cup of coffee, trying to think of a way how to get out of here.

Nicky doesn’t mind his sour attitude. “Wait, oh my god, is it that guy you’ve been hanging out with? What was his name again? Noah?”

“Neil,” Andrew corrects him automatically and barely suppresses the urge to facepalm himself right after. Why can’t he just keep him goddamn mouth shut? He and Neil have been indeed hanging out a lot, but it was mostly due to the fact that Neil was teaching Andrew how to throw knives. Andrew didn’t really mind his company, but he would barely call him a friend, let along boyfriend. He curses himself for even talking about Neil in front of Nicky.

Nicky beams at him. “Oh, right, _Neil_. So, when am I going to meet him?”

Andrew rolls his eyes. “Never.”

“Aw, come on! I promise I’ll behave. Geez, this is _so_ great, I’m so happy for you, Andrew.”

Andrew wonders if he could kill himself with the desert spoon. Probably not. He really wants to try though.

“I can’t believe Kevin hasn’t told me. What else is he your roommate for?” Nicky continues with a wide smile.

Andrew smirks. There is no way Kevin would tell Nicky anything even if he actually was dating Neil. Kevin is the most oblivious person on the earth and even if noticed by some miracle, he’s too scared of Andrew slitting his throat in the middle of a night to tell Nicky. That’s why Andrew didn’t mind sharing the apartment with him.

“Shit, I have to get going,” Nicky yelps suddenly and it’s the most beautiful sentence Andrew has heard him say throughout the whole afternoon. “But seriously I want all the details.” He points a finger at Andrew. “And I’m meeting Neil sooner or later. You can’t hide him from me forever.” He winks at Andrew and then finally he’s gone.

Andrew takes a deep breath, relaxing a little. Okay. He needs a plan. And he needs a fake boyfriend. Surely that’s not going to be that bad, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soon to be continued...  
> Thanks for reading <3


	2. Will you be my fake date?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Andrew talks with Neil about the whole fake dating idea. They also throw some knives, because why not.

“You have faked your entire identity before, right?” Andrew asks, trying to make it sound causal, while wondering in which universe could it possibly _be_ a casual question.

Neil definitely doesn’t think of it as very casual. He picks up the knife Andrew’s just thrown – missing the made up target by few inches – and studies Andrew face with interest. “Yes. Why?”

Andrew shrugs and sits on the pavement. They are hanging out by one of the abandoned buildings, practicing for almost two hours by now. “What other things can you fake?”

Neil frowns in confusion. “Andrew, you’re twenty-two, you don’t need a fake ID or anything.”

Andrew sighs. This is not going in the direction he was hoping for. Like at all. “I wasn’t talking about an ID.”

“Oh. What were you talking about then?” Neil asks and hands him the knife back.

Andrew turns it in his hand few times, unsure how to start. “You know my cousin Nicky?”

Neil seems even more bemused by that question, but nevertheless nods. “The one you’re constantly complaining about? Sure.” He takes his own knife and throws it at the target. It jabs precisely into the middle and Neil grins.

Andrew smirks. “That one, yes. He wanted to set me up with some guy and I may have told him I’m already seeing someone.”

Neil tilts his head to the side. “Okay?”

God, Neil is as oblivious as Kevin. Andrew is not definitely not having fun. “The problem is, I am not.”

“Why don’t you just tell Nicky you don’t want him to set you up with anyone?” Neil suggests.

Andrew rolls his eyes. “I did. He didn’t take the hint somehow,” he mentions bitterly. “That’s not the point. The point is, he’s never letting this go until he sees I’m capable of dating someone without his help.”

“Andrew, where are you going with this?”

It seems like Andrew’ll have to spell this out for him. “When I told Nicky I’m seeing someone, he concluded it’s you.”

Neil blinks in surprise, forgetting about the knives for a moment. “Why?”

“I don’t know. But he got all excited and I didn’t have a better lie.”

“So he thinks we are dating?”

Andrew nods. “Yes.”

Neil gazes at him. “And you want him to believe it’s true?”

Andrew shrugs. “Sort of. That’s what I’m asking you.”

“You’re asking me to be your fake boyfriend?”

Finally, he catches on. Andrew was starting to get worried. “Yes.”

“Oh.” Neil walks to him and sits next to him, leaving couple inches of space between them. He’s well aware of Andrew’s touch aversion. “Do you think it’s a good idea?”

Probably not, but he’s not going to tell that to Neil. “It’s better than letting Nicky get me a date.”

Neil gazes somewhere in the distance and Andrew starts to worry he fucked this up. He didn’t know Neil that well, besides the whole son of the Butcher thing and maybe this was over the line. He shouldn’t have asked, he so shouldn’t have asked.

“How long do you want to pretend this?” Neil asks suddenly.

Andrew glances at him. He doesn’t seem angry, but curious. Andrew shrugs. “Few weeks, I guess.”

Neil seizes him but then nods. “Okay. Let’s do it.”

Andrew does his best to hide his surprise. He didn’t expect Neil to agree to this so fast. Actually, he didn’t expect Neil to agree to this at all. “Really?” He asks cautiously.

Neil smiles. “Sure. At least Allison will give me a rest.”

“Why does your roommate care who you date?”

“I don’t know. She thinks I’m missing out on something.”

Andrew suppresses a snort. He highly doubts he is. Even the fake dating sounds like more trouble than fun. “We should set some ground rules,” he mentions.

Neil looks up at him. “Like?”

Andrew stops fidgeting with his knife and hides it back into his armband. “Like no touching, no kissing and absolutely no pet names.”

Neil smirks. “Wow, we are so going to fool everybody,” he sneers.

Andrew frowns at him. “Call me by some pet name and I’ll cut out your tongue,” he warns him.

Neil rolls his eyes. He wasn’t afraid of Andrew’s threats, especially when they involved knives. Andrew hated how easily he always brushed it off. “What about holding hands?” Neil suggests then.

Andrew considers it. He hates when people touch him. He doesn’t trust anyone enough to let them touch him. He definitely doesn’t trust Neil. But Neil’s right, with this attitude they aren’t going to fool anyone, especially Nicky. “Fine,” he agrees resignedly. “But ask first.”

“Okay.” With that Neil stands up and collects the rest of their knives before turning back to Andrew. “So, are you going to walk me home?” He asks with rather victorious smile and Andrew starts to regret this whole thing. 

“I should’ve just suffered through the set up date,” Andrew mutters grumpily.

Neil smirks. “It’s never too late to tell Nicky that, you know?”

Andrew glares at him. “Shut up. Let’s just go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Are the chapters too short? I feel like it’s better to write short chapters and post more often than long chapter and post less.  
> Anyway, thanks for reading <3


	3. Cheerleader

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neil sees Andrew flirt with a girl...

“Who was the guy who walked you home?” Allison asks Neil eagerly as soon as he steps into the apartment.

Neil smirks. He puts his jacket onto the hanger, carefully avoiding Allison’s eyes. “Are you stalking me?” He asks instead of answering.

She rolls her eyes at him. “I looked out of the window and happened to see the two of you. No stalking involved.”

Neil laughs and makes his way to the kitchen to get some water. “Sure. I totally believe you that.”

“Shut up. Who was it then?”

He’s still not meeting her look. “Andrew,” he says casually, knowing very well that if he continues this, Allison is probably going to kill him.

Allison frowns. “The guy who you’re teaching how to throw knives?” She asks skeptically, as if teaching people knife-throwing was a weird thing to do. 

“Yep.”

“He’s hot,” she mentions, though she makes it almost sound like an accusation.

Neil shrugs. “I guess.” Andrew definitely wasn’t ugly, but Neil didn’t really care about people’s looks.

Allison shakes her head at him in disappointment. “So are you two just throwing knives or are you doing some other stuff as well?” She asks slyly then.

Neil chuckles. This is exactly the reason why he’s agreed to Andrew’s proposal. “Maybe we are,” he says with a smirk and quickly disappears into his room before Allison can question him more.

“Neil Josten, you get back and tell me everything right now!” She yells at him as he closes the door behind himself.

“Sorry, Allison, I have to study. Big test tomorrow.” He can hardly keep the amusement out of his voice.

He hears Allison sigh deeply. “I’m going to get the details out of you sooner or later,” she warns him.

“Sure,” he agrees with a smile.

Neil didn’t mind making the deal with Andrew. He was getting tired of Allison, constantly trying to convince him dating is fun. It definitely didn’t look like fun from his point of view. Although it might have been because Allison was dating idiots. Handsome, but idiots.

Anyway, he was more okay with her bugging him about Andrew than telling him about different guys he could go out.

The only problem turned out to be, from what he told her, she didn’t seem to like Andrew a lot. Neil didn’t blame her really. Andrew’s personality was… complicated. Neil was sure most people don’t get along with him very well.But hanging out with him was surprisingly easy for Neil, so he didn’t mind the trouble of pretending to be his boyfriend.

He is supposed to meet him in about two hours. He’s just going home from his lecture and he’s in a middle of a thought whether he should go and buy Allison and himself some coffee, when he sees Andrew in the coffeeshop. And to his utter surprise, he is not there alone, but with some girl.

The girl is very pretty and Neil can’t help but think she looks like a cheerleader. He didn’t think of Andrew as the type who likes cheerleaders, but apparently he was wrong. Andrew’s clearly flirting with her, his usual blank expression long gone. He’s smiling and looking at her like she was the most interesting human in the world.

Neil frowns, mostly out of confusion, and walks away without entering the coffee shop. He doesn’t want to interrupt them.

When he finally meets Andrew later that afternoon, it takes all of his self control not ask him about the girl right away. Instead, he stays silent, but throws the knives with bigger force than before.

Andrew doesn’t comment on that. He doesn’t try to talk to Neil, focusing just on the knives. He’s getting pretty good, actually.

Neil pensively watches Andrew’s impassive face and wonders how the hell could he look so different not even two hours ago.

“Staring,” Andrew says without taking his eyes of the target.

Neil frowns. “I am not.”

“If you say so.”

Neil sighs. He can only take it for this long. “Why did you ask me to this fake dating thing, when you go around flirting with cheerleaders?”

To his credit, Andrew looks positively bewildered. He lowers the hand in which he’s holding the knife and gazes at Neil. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

Neil rolls his eyes. “Don’t play stupid, Andrew, I saw you today.”

Andrew blinks. “You saw me?” He repeats in genuine confusion.

Neil is getting angry. He doesn’t care if Andrew’s flirting with cheerleaders, but he doesn’t have to lie to him about it. “Yes. You were at the coffee shop with some girl and you were looking at her like she was the centre of your universe.”

Andrew’s bemused expression changes immediately. He smirks at Neil. “Yeah, you saw Aaron,” he says amusedly.

“What?” Neil asks uncomprehendingly.

Andrew keeps chuckling and Neil has a very strong urge to throw the knife at his head. “My brother Aaron? You know, the one who’s _dating_ a cheerleader?” Andrew prompts.

Neil frowns. He is sure he saw _Andrew_. “But…” Then it suddenly clicks. “Wait, you’re _twins_?”

“Yes.”

Neil silently curses Andrew. Identical twins and he just forgot to mention it. “You didn’t say that!”

Andrew shrugs. “I didn’t assume you’d think someone who’s ogling his girlfriend would be me.”

Neil knew it looked weird. He knew it! “I… You look the same! How was I supposed to know?”

Andrew rolls his eyes. “I’m gay, Neil.”

“ _Oh_.” Sure, he didn’t think Andrew was straight, but maybe bi?

“And Aaron’s very straight.”

“Right. Sorry.”

Andrew gives him a studying look, but keeps quiet. He turns his attention back on the target, clearly done with this conversation. “Nicky wants to meet you, by the way. I’m sure he permanently damaged my ears with his screaming when I told him we’re dating.”

Neil smirks, very grateful for that change of the topic. “That sounds lovely,” he sneers. “I’ll remember to wear earplugs.”

Andrew snorts. “If you think that’ll help you, sure.”

Neil raises an eyebrow. “That bad?”

Andrew nods. “That bad.”

Well, he certainly has something to look forward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can’t believe Neil assumed Andrew wasn’t gay as hell  
> Thanks for reading ;)


	4. Is this like meeting your boyfriend’s parents?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neil meets Nicky and - accidentally - Aaron as well. Nicky is excited. Aaron is horrified when he realizes his twin is dating a son of a mobster. Chaos ensues.

Andrew isn’t sure how he feels about introducing Neil to Nicky. He’s well aware that it was the whole point of this fake dating thing, but still. He is sure that if he and Neil were dating for real, he’d keep him away from Nicky for as long as possible. He’s not exactly the kind to show off he has a boyfriend and he doesn’t think Neil is either. On the other hand, the sooner they get this over with, the better, right?

Andrew is supposed to pick Neil at his place, but when he knocks on his door, it’s opened by a girl, who’s looking at him with very unfriendly expression on her face. “You’re Andrew, right?” She asks coolly and crosses her arms across her chest.

Andrew doesn’t like her any more than she likes him. “Yes.”

She narrows her eyes. “You’d better take good care of Neil, because if I find out you hurt him…”

Neil appears out of nowhere and slips around the girl through the door. “Don’t threaten him, Allison, he has knives on him,” he mentions, but Andrew doesn’t miss his amused smile.

Allison doesn’t look pleased by that information, but Neil just waves her off.

“Sorry about her,” Neil says when they get out on the street.

Andrew doesn’t care about Neil’s roommate in the slightest. He hums something undistinguishable in response. “Why are you living with her again?” He asks Neil then.

Neil chuckles. “Because it’s cheaper than living alone. And she picks out my clothes, since I apparently lack any sense of fashion.” He rolls his eyes at that.

Andrew studies Neil’s blue button-up with interest. It is indeed very pretty. Maybe Allison isn’t that bad after all.

To his surprise, Neil doesn’t seem to be too nervous about the prospect of meeting Andrew’s cousin. The only remark he makes about it is by asking: “Is this like meeting your boyfriend’s parents kind of thing?”

Andrew smirks. “I highly doubt that.” It’s probably going to be much worse, but Andrew doesn’t tell Neil that.

“What do you know.”

“More than you.”

Neil snorts. “Sure.”

For the rest of the walk Neil talks about this and that and Andrew is happy Neil doesn’t force him into the conversation.

When they reach Nicky and Aaron’s apartment, Neil asks: “Why don’t you live with them?”

Andrew shrugs. “Because they are annoying.”

“And Kevin isn’t?”

Andrew was complaining about Kevin almost as much as about Nicky, that’s true. But Kevin was living on his own back then and Andrew wanted to get away from Nicky and Aaron, since he was living with them for quite long and it’s been enough. Kevin turned out to be not the worst roommate, and Andrew didn’t care that much to move out. But he doesn’t have to explain all of that to Neil. He settles for: “It’s complicated.”

Neil fortunately takes the hint and doesn’t pry further.

Andrew still has the spare key though, so he unlocks the door, but before he can lead Neil inside, Neil stops him.

“What?” Andrew asks uncomprehendingly.

Neil gazes at him. “Hold my hand?” He asks cautiously.

It’s a request, not an order, but Andrew still glares at him. He knows they said holding hands is fine, but that doesn’t mean he is excited about it.

He sighs. “Fine.” _Nicky is going to have a heart attack when he sees us like this_ , Andrew thinks wryly but allows Neil to slip his hand into Andrew’s.

To Andrew’s surprise, it’s not as bad as he thought. Neil’s grip isn’t too tight, Andrew could break free any time he wanted. Andrew can feel the scarred tissue under his fingers and it makes him very aware that it’s Neil’s hand, not some stranger’s. He kind of likes that.

When they step inside, he doesn’t even have to yell at Nicky to tell him they’re here, Nicky basically comes running into the hall. He looks so excited Andrew wonders whether he should ruin it and admit it’s fake.

“Neil! So good to finally meet you!”

Neil offers him a polite smile. “Likewise. Andrew talks a lot about you.”

Nicky _beams_. “Does he really?”

Andrew glares at Neil. He does talk about Nicky a lot, but it’s mostly complains and Neil knows it very well. But he smiles at Nicky, completely ignoring Andrew’s murderous look. “Oh, yeah. All the time.”

Andrew is going to murder Neil.

Nicky guides them to the living room, grinning widely. “You two are so cute together,” he mentions excitedly, eyeing their joined hands. “How did you even got together?”

Neil shrugs. “Andrew saw me throwing knives and basically _begged_ me to date him.”

Andrew is sure he misheard. He is so going to murder Neil.

Nicky interrogates Neil about everything he can possibly think of and Neil patiently answers. Thankfully, most of Nicky’s questions are about Neil and not their relationship, so Andrew doesn’t feel the urge to set himself on fire that much. He tunes out most of their conversation, since they both look like they are having a good time.

Not even an hour pass by when Aaron shows up. He walks into the living room, eyes on the display of his phone, completely oblivious to his twin or Neil.

“Aaron,” Nicky greets him.

Aaron must hear how excited Nicky sounds, because otherwise he wouldn’t lift his eyes of the screen. When he spots Andrew, holding hands with Neil, he raises an eyebrow, but doesn’t ask anything.

“Are you joining us?” Nicky asks expectantly.

Aaron seizes Neil with suspicious look. “I’d rather not, thanks,” he says dryly and makes his way out of the room.

Neil doesn’t seem to mind his reserved behavior. On the contrary, he smirks and cheerfully says: “Look, he’s almost as nice as you, Andrew.” 

Nicky tries his best to mask with laughter with cough. Aaron coldly glances at Neil before disappearing. Andrew isn’t sure whether he’s mad at Neil for saying that or happy that he got Aaron annoyed.

“Keep this one, Andrew, I like him,” Nicky says, still laughing. Andrew throws him a warning look, but Nicky ignores it.

The rest of the afternoon goes surprisingly smoothly. Andrew doesn’t know why was he nervous. Neil is fine with answering all of Nicky’s terrible questions, so Andrew doesn’t really have to contribute to the conversation himself, for which he’s glad.

When he goes to the kitchen to get them some coffee, he finds his twin there, leaning against the counter, frowning at him.

“Andrew, do you have any idea, who that guy is?” He asks him in german.

Andrew’s only response is a blank stare.

Aaron frowns even more. “He’s a son of a fucking mobster!”

Oh. That. Andrew does his best to keep the amusement out of his face. “The Butcher of Baltimore, yes,” he agrees calmly, also in german.

Aaron gapes at him. “You _know_?! Andrew, are you insane? You can’t possibly date him!”

Now finally this is fun. Andrew shrugs. “He’s great with knives,” he says casually.

Aaron seems on a good way to strangle him. “For second I’ve forgotten who I was talking to,” he mutters wryly to himself. “Still, he’s part of a mafia, Andrew!”

“My father is dead and I have no intention to take over his business, if that concerns you,” Neil says in perfect german as he steps into the kitchen as well, cool smile on his face.

Both Andrew and Aaron stare at him. Andrew had no idea Neil speaks german. Or that he was eavesdropping.

“You… you speak german?” Aaron asks bemusedly.

“A bit,” Neil agrees with shit-eating grin.

Aaron is completely stunned. Andrew has a weird urge to kiss Neil in that moment.

Aaron turns back to Andrew, doing his best to ignore Neil’s presence. He has this look on his face that clearly says: this is what I was talking about.

Andrew rolls his eyes. “I’m not having this conversation with you, Aaron. Neil isn’t dangerous.” If Andrew thought he were, he wouldn’t bring him anywhere near his family.

“But his father –” Aaron begins, but Andrew doesn’t let him continue. He sees Neil flinch at that and unintentionally curls his fingers into a fist. “Neil is _not_ his father,” he hisses at Aaron.

Andrew can precisely see where this is going when Aaron opens his mouth again, so he doesn’t let him say anything else. Instead he steps to Neil. “Let’s go.” Then in lower voice adds: “Yes or no?” with his eyes fixed on Neil’s hand.

“Yes,” Neil answers quietly. Andrew takes his hand, smiles sweetly at his twin and leads Neil out. He only hears Aaron slam the door to his bedroom as he storms out. He smirks.

Nicky may have overheard bit of the argument, but he takes one glance at Andrew to figure out it’s not a good idea to mention it. The only thing he says about it is: “Aaron’s being a bit overdramatic.”

Neil nods and smiles, but Andrew can tell it’s fake. “It’s okay,” Neil assures Nicky calmly. “It was great meeting you.”

Nicky beams at both of them. “I hope I’ll see you again soon.”

Andrew tugs at Neil’s hand to get him moving. “Bye, Nicky.” And with that they leave.

The walk back to Neil’s apartment is quiet. Neil keeps his eyes fixed on his shoes and doesn’t talk.

Andrew doesn’t believe in regret, but small part of him wants to apologize for Aaron. Instead, he squeezes Neil’s hands lightly before letting go.

Neil gazes at him and attempts a weak smile. “Nicky is… enthusiastic,” he mentions.

Andrew snorts. “The word you are looking for is “annoying”. But he’s right. Aaron _is_ overdramatic.”

Neil studies his face with interest. “So you aren’t worried I’m going to get mad at you at some point and send the mafia after you?”

“I’m sure that if you get mad at me, you’ll be able to take care of me yourself.”

Neil chuckles. “Oh, okay. Just you and me, then. I promise I’ll make it quick and painless.”

Andrew considers murdering Neil for at least the third time today. But instead of that, he just rolls his eyes at him and mumbles: “Idiot.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Andrew being protective of his fake boyfriend? It’s more likely than you think. ;)  
> Thanks for reading <3


	5. Sleepover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Andrew brings Neil to his apartment and together they annoy Kevin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> very brief mention of rape/past abuse

Technically, Andrew knows that bringing Neil over to his place is redundant. But they’ve been “dating” for about two weeks now and whenever he met Nicky, he was eager to ask how’s it going with Neil and Andrew figured out it was only a matter of time before Nicky decided to ask Kevin about Neil as well and it would be awkward if Kevin had no idea who Neil was.

That’s how Andrew decides it’s good idea to drag Neil into his apartment. Neil doesn’t protest, nor asks why is Andrew doing this. Andrew likes this about Neil. For some reason he trusts Andrew enough to let him take the lead.

When they walk inside the apartment, they find Kevin seated at the kitchen table, surrounded by papers and history textbooks. Andrew didn’t share Kevin’s obsession with history, unless it involved unsolved crimes, and he couldn’t understand why did Kevin want to major in it. On the other hand, Andrew’s major was criminal law, which involved some history knowledge as well, but Andrew’s eidetic memory took care of that part.

He warned Kevin beforehand that Neil’s coming, so Kevin barely looks up from his notes, but when he does and sees Neil, he freezes. Andrew watches as Kevin gazes at Neil’s auburn hair, ice-blue eyes and the scars on his cheeks, connecting the dots. He’s quicker than Aaron at last, but it’s true Kevin followed the whole affair with the Butcher of Baltimore way more than Aaron. He opens his mouth to ask, but then notices Andrew’s warning glare and pointedly shuts up.

Neil doesn’t miss Kevin’s surprise, but brushes it off. “Hi, I’m Neil,” he says with a smile instead.

Kevin flicks quick glance at Andrew, just to assure himself this is not some sort of a prank, that Andrew actually brought home Nathaniel Wesninski, and when Andrew returns his look without batting an eye, he forces himself into smile as well. “Kevin. Nice to meet you.”

Andrew sees the eager look in Kevin’s eyes. “I’ll make coffee,” he announces and nudges Neil to sit to the table with Kevin.

Kevin does indeed have a lot of questions. He isn’t stupid enough to ask about anything involving Neil’s past; Andrew would surely kill him if he did. Instead, he questions Neil about his present, asking what’s his major (math), whether he plays lacrosse – Kevin’s other obsession – (used to but doesn’t anymore), and how long have he and Andrew been together (few weeks).

Andrew allows this interrogation until he finishes his coffee, then drags Neil to his room, far from Kevin.

Neil looks around curiously, eyeing the large bookcase filled with classics and the old gramophone, which Andrew likes to use to annoy Kevin.

“How comes you and Kevin are friends?” Neil asks as he studies the heavy volumes on the bookshelf. “He doesn’t seem like the type you’d tolerate.”

Andrew smirks. That’s true. “We played lacrosse together in last year of high school. Kevin tried to persuade to play in college as well, but I declined.”

Neil gazes at him. “Were you any good?”

“I am not talking about lacrosse with you. It’s enough Kevin doesn’t shut up about it.”

Neil snorts. “Is this the reason why he’s studying last minute?”

Andrew raises an eyebrow. He didn’t listen to most of the stuff Kevin said. “Is he having a test soon?”

“He said tomorrow.”

Andrew doesn’t even try to hide his evil grin. “You don’t say,” he mumbles happily.

Neil looks at him with bemused expression. “What?”

“The last time I had a final, Kevin decided to be an asshole and bring over some girl and they were _incredibly_ loud,” Andrew explains.

Neil frowns in confusion. “Okay?”

“This is a perfect opportunity for revenge.”

Neil’s expression changes immediately and to Andrew’s surprise, he looks almost _scared_.

“Calm down, I don’t want to have sex with you,” he assures Neil quickly. “Just make it sound like it.”

Neil relaxes a little. “Oh. Okay. Good.” He walks to Andrew’s bed, sits on it and tries how loudly it creaks under his weight. Satisfied with the sound, he shifts, making the mattress groan and _moans_ Andrew’s name.

“Like this?” He asks Andrew with innocent smile.

Andrew realizes that from all the stupid ideas he had, this one might be the stupidest one. But now it’s too late to stop, so he joins Neil on the bed. “Like that,” he agrees and does his best to make it sound calm.

It takes only few minutes and couple more moans from Neil for Andrew to forgot why he ever thought this was a clever plan. Turns out, Neil is an absolute menace. His voice is loud and needy and he makes it sound like they are having the best sex in the world. He’s also very creative with his words. He uses every praise he can possibly think of, combines it with Andrew’s name and incoherent screams and _god,_ Andrew is getting bit lightheaded just from listening to this.

Kevin ignores them for the first ten minutes, but then they hear him march from the kitchen to Andrew’s bedroom and sharply knock on the door. “Keep it the fuck down!” He growls.

Andrew smirks in satisfaction. “Fuck off, Kevin!” He yells back and motions for Neil to proceed.

When they’re done, Neil collapses onto the pillows, muffling his laughter with the back of his hand. “This was fun,” he says amusedly.

Andrew chuckles at the sight of him like that, lying in his bed, pink cheeks and giggling. “Are you always loud like that or was it just for the show?” He sneers.

“I don’t know. I’ve never had sex before,” Neil admits. “I didn’t get many chances to date anyone when I was on the run and I don’t really like the prospect of hooking up with random strangers.”

Andrew studies him with interest. “Hooking up with random strangers isn’t that bad.”

Neil smirks. “Do you have a lot of expertise in that area?” He asks wryly.

Andrew rolls his eyes and doesn’t answer.

Neil doesn’t give up that easily. “How old were you when you had sex for the first time?”

Andrew is sure, Neil’s going to regret asking when he tells him the truth. “Seven.” Neil flinches. He stares at Andrew, wide-eyed and horrified. Andrew, unhelpfully, adds: “Involuntarily.”

Neil goes even paler than before. “I’m sorry,” he says quietly.

Andrew doesn’t like pity any more than regret. “Don’t,” he hisses before Neil can continue.

Neil risks another look at him. “Is this why you don’t let people touch you?” He asks slowly.

Andrew nods. He doesn’t add anything else, feeling like he’s already shared more than enough.

Neil watches him with unreadable face and it takes a while before he speaks up again, but when he does, his voice is suddenly dark. “I could make the people who hurt you disappear.”

Andrew rarely finds himself lost for words, but right now, he gapes at Neil, too stunned to speak. “I was under the impression you have nothing to do with your father’s business,” he manages to say when he gets himself back together.

Neil snorts. “I don’t. But I know some useful people from my mother’s side.”

Andrew wonders whether he should ask, but in the end decides it’s not worth it. “I don’t care about them,” he says at last and it’s true. He wasn’t the type to dwell on the past.

At that Neil only nods and doesn’t pursue the topic further.

They don’t talk about anything too serious afterwards. Neil tells him about all the places he’s visited, though usually very briefly, and about all the languages he picked up on the run. Andrew tells him how it was growing up in foster care – he’s careful to avoid talking about the abuse –, the juvie and how he eventually met Aaron and they moved in with Nicky.

At some point Neil curls on the bed, closes his eyes and when Andrew gazes at him, he realizes he’s asleep.

When Andrew invited Neil over, he didn’t exactly have a sleepover in mind, but now he doesn’t have the heart to wake Neil up.

When awake, Neil’s all sharp edges and running his mouth, but when he’s asleep, he looks relaxed and calm and Andrew is sure that the weird feeling in his stomach is just from hunger. Definitely not something to do with Neil.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading ;)


	6. Not dating

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just the two idiots being a not-couple.

Since that accidental sleepover, they settle into sort of a casual routine and Andrew realizes with horror, that he doesn’t mind dating Neil. He keeps persuading himself that he doesn’t mind this whole situation because it’s all fake and that if it was real, he’d hate it, but the truth is, being with Neil was surprisingly easy. He never pushes Andrew, always asks for everything and after some time, he’s able to read Andrew so well, he knows when it’s a bad day and he needs to keep his distance. Andrew hates how well was this thing going. He thought he’d get bored after a week or so.

What amazes him – and probably Neil as well – even more is when Neil casually asks him if he wants to sleep over at his place and Andrew agrees. Andrew was always sure he’d freak out if he shared a bed with another person. That’s why it surprised him that when Neil fell asleep at his place, Andrew slept throughout the night without much trouble. He woke up from time to time, glanced at sleeping Neil next to him, and closed his eyes again. Neil didn’t move or twitch, so Andrew didn’t get startled.

Neil says Allison is going somewhere and she told him to take advantage of the empty apartment. He rolls his eyes while saying that.

Andrew is more than happy to get out of his apartment, mostly because Kevin said something about bringing a girl and Andrew is sure he’s still pissed at him and plans revenge.

Either way, he shows up at Neil’s place only after Neil texts him Allison’s gone. He doesn’t like her any better than when he first met her.

Now that they are alone, they don’t have to pretend they are a couple, but Andrew is quick to discover nothing much changes about their behavior. They aren’t holding hands, but otherwise they talk in the same way, with ease.

The evening turns out to be more fun than he expected. They order thai food, watch some movie and Neil even has ice cream. Andrew suspects Neil got it specially for him.

The sleeping arrangements take a while to figure out. The last time Neil just dozed off and Andrew let him, but now that he’s wide awake, Andrew’s not letting him get into the bed without few rules first. “I sleep at the wall. Don’t touch me. And don’t twitch.”

From the last time Andrew knows Neil didn’t twitch nor tried to touch him, but he still feels better when Neil nods.

Unsurprisingly, Neil is the first to fall asleep. Andrew doesn’t mind it though. He listens to his breaths, while looking up at the ceiling, wondering how did he end up in a bed with someone like Neil.

He doesn’t remember falling asleep, but he wakes rather abruptly when Neil screams.

Andrew’s wide awake at once, hand at his knife, looking around for the source of danger, his heart pounding. However, the room is empty and Neil’s sitting on the edge of the bed, hugging his knees, his whole body shaking. 

Andrew cautiously moves closer to him. “Yes or no, Neil?”

Neil doesn’t look at him but chokes out quiet: “Y-yes.”

Andrew’s pretty sure Neil doesn’t know what he’s agreeing to and it surprises him Neil has such a trust in him. He sits to him and wraps his hand around the back of Neil’s neck. “Breathe, Neil.”

It takes some time for Neil’s breathing to even. When he speaks up again, his voice is still trembling. “Sorry.” He still hasn’t looked at Andrew.

“Stop it,” Andrew says sharply, but doesn’t move away. There’s nothing Neil has to be apologizing for. Andrew knows very well how the nightmares feel like. “I’ll get you some water, okay?”

Neil nods and lets Andrew leave. He returns back with tall glass which he hands to Neil. “Thanks,” Neil mumbles and glances at Andrew at last. His eyes are wide and it’s the first time Andrew sees Neil look frightened. 

“Do you want to go back to sleep?” Andrew asks, in bit softer tone, when Neil finishes the water.

Neil only nods and allows Andrew to maneuver him back into the bed.

Andrew watches him curl at his side of the bed and sighs. “Yes or no?” He asks resignedly.

Neil gazes at him through the dark. “Yes.”

Andrew moves closer to Neil and puts his arm protectively over Neil’s waist. He’s careful not to touch him otherwise and leave few comfortable inches between their bodies, but he’s close enough to feel Neil’s warmth and smell his scent. Andrew tries to ignore the fact that it’s strangely nice.

“Drew?” Neil asks in low voice.

Andrew doesn’t remember allowing nicknames, but this time he lets it slip. “What?”

“Thank you.”

“Just go to sleep.”

Neil falls asleep again easily and Andrew spends eternity watching the features of his face, the high cheekbones, sharp jawline and the scars on his cheeks, until he can’t keep his eyes open anymore.

He is woken by sharp knock on the door. Without thinking, he pulls Neil closer in protective kind of gesture and fishes out his knife from his armband.

Neil is slower to wake up. He blinks sleepily at Andrew, then at the knife and lastly at the door, that opens without warning and Allison, who steps in. When Andrew realizes it’s just her, he lets go of Neil, but doesn’t hide the knife.

“You stole my charger again,” she announces grumpily at Neil, oblivious to the fact that Neil isn’t in the bed alone. She snatches the charger from his desk and finally turns to look at the two of them. When she sees Andrew, she smirks. “Oh. Hi there. So you brought your pet monster after all, Neil?”

Neil frowns at her. “Don’t call him that.”

Allison rolls her eyes. “He is literally pointing a knife at me.”

“Don’t worry, his aim is still a bit off,” Neil assures her calmly.

Andrew considers throwing the knife just to prove him wrong. “I’m going to stab you, Josten,” he hisses instead.

“Sure you are.”

Allison chuckles. “Is this your idea of flirting?”

Neil glares at her and Andrew rolls his eyes, thinking _how has this become my life?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Protective!Andrew owns my heart  
> Thanks for reading :)


	7. I don’t want any surprises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fake boyfriends, fake kisses and maybe some real feelings? ;)

Ever since Neil met Nicky for the first time, Nicky eagerly forced Andrew to make Neil join them whenever they were doing anything remotely interesting. Neil didn’t mind spending his time with Andrew and his family. He’s never had real family on his own, so it was interesting to watch their dynamics. Plus Nicky was really nice to him, almost enough to make up for Aaron’s sneery remarks he’s had every time Neil was around.

The only problem with Nicky was the fact that he never knew when was the time to stop talking. His favorite activity was getting from either them as many details about their relationship as humanly possible. Neil usually didn’t care. He made up most of the answers, much to Andrew’s dislike.

But now, when Nicky casually asks: “When was your first kiss?” Neil finds himself incapable of thinking of proper answer.

He gazes at Andrew for help, but he seems to be caught off guard as well. “None of your business, Nicky,” Andrew growls, but it’s a beat too late.

Nicky glances between the two of them, suddenly very interested in the topic. “You _have_ kissed before, right?” He asks.

Neil does his best to keep neutral expression and prays Andrew will somehow handle this.

Andrew’s stoic face doesn’t change as he slips his hand into his armband. “Do I need to repeat myself with a knife at your throat?” He hisses at Nicky.

Nicky pointedly shuts up, but Neil doesn’t miss the suspicious look on his face.

“We could kiss in front of him,” Neil suggests later that day when they are alone.

Andrew glares at him and Neil is suddenly very aware of the fact he’s holding a knife, ready to throw it. The made-up target surely doesn’t look as good as Neil’s torso.

He isn’t sure what Andrew’s look means, since it could be anything from excited to murderous. “It would make him stop questioning us,” he adds for clarification.

Andrew gazes into the distance, fidgeting with the knife. “Have you ever kissed anyone?” He asks pensively.

Neil thinks of the girls he kissed on run. Those weren’t exactly great experiences, but Andrew doesn’t need to know that. “Sure.”

Andrew doesn’t look like he believes him, but nods and doesn’t ask again. Instead, he steps to Neil, hiding the knife into his armband. He looks a bit like a predator watching its prey. “Yes or no, Neil?”

Neil blinks at him in surprise. “Like… right now?”

Andrew doesn’t bat an eye. “I don’t want any surprises.”

Neil doesn’t answer right away and Andrew doesn’t move any closer to him, patiently waiting for him to make up his mind.

In the end Neil concludes it’s not such a big deal. Allison says she kisses people all the time and doesn’t make a fuss about it. “Yes.”

Andrew’s movements are slow, in case Neil changes his mind. He reaches for Neil and when Neil doesn’t back away, he wraps his hand around the back of Neil’s neck and pulls him closer. His grip isn’t tight, he isn’t forcing Neil to move, but Neil goes willingly.

For second Neil wonders whether it’s going to feel the same as kissing those girls felt, but then Andrew presses his lips against his own and he stops thinking all together.

Once when he was younger, he got into a fistfight and was punched painfully in his stomach. The force of the hit took his breath away and he just lied on the ground afterwards, gasping for air.

That’s how kissing Andrew feels like. It’s nowhere near same as kissing the girls. Andrew is warm and steady, tastes like nicotine and Neil doesn’t have to worry about his mother finding out. Instead, he wonders whether Andrew can hear how loudly his heart beats.

Andrew didn’t allow him to touch, so he slips his hands into his back pockets, but Andrew grabs his wrist and guides his hand into his hair. Neil doesn’t have time to be surprised by that. He obediently tangles his fingers into Andrew’s curls, careful not to pull and thankful he has some sort support.

The kiss ends way too soon and leaves Neil breathless. Andrew pulls away, lets go of him and Neil quickly does the same.

Andrew’s expression remains blank, but his lips are red and there’s slight blush on his cheeks. It’s quite a sight to behold.

Neil isn’t sure what to say, but thankfully Andrew pulls out a cigarette, offers Neil one as well, and doesn’t seem like he wants to talk at all, so Neil doesn’t.

The next time they make plans with Nicky, they are waiting for him in front of the building of his apartment and Neil risks to ask: “Yes or no?”

Andrew, who’s been looking at the sky and the birds flying around, seizes Neil without much interest and Neil is almost sure it’s going to be a no. But then Andrew takes a step to him, grunts a barely distinguishable yes and kisses him before Neil can react.

This kiss isn’t much different to the first one and although Andrew isn’t soft and his kisses aren’t light, but bruising (Neil didn’t expect anything else from him), Neil feels strangely comfortable, which he never did when he kissed anyone before.

Once again, Andrew guides Neil’s hands into his hair, while he holds onto the back of Neil’s neck.

Neil completely forgets about the world around them. Nothing else exists in this moment but him and Andrew and for a fragment of second he wishes this was real, though he knows it isn’t.

They are interrupted by sudden yelp of excitement and when they pull away – rather quickly and much to Neil’s dislike – they see Nicky, standing few feet away from them, looking starstruck.

Neil knows very well, that this was their plan all along, but he can’t help feeling a little sour that Nicky walked on them. He tries not to dwell on it too much; it was a fake kiss after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Neil is such an oblivious idiot  
> Thanks for reading <3


	8. Metal box flying 35 000 feet above ground vs one psychotic midget

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Andrew decides to drag Neil to Germany... one problem though - his fear of heights

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> few chapters in Neil’s pov because let’s be real, Andrew’s would be constant gay panic ;)  
> Enjoy

Neil is quite sure he misheard Andrew. “What the actual fuck, Andrew? You want be to go to _Germany_ with you?” He repeats, watching Andrew’s profile with interest.

“I don’t want anything,” Andrew corrects him in monotone. He isn’t looking at Neil, but gazing at a fly sitting on his bedroom wall. “We are flying there for a week so Nicky can visit his husband,” he adds after he glances at Neil and sees him still staring in shock.

Neil is one hundred percent sure he misheard this time. “Husband? Nicky’s _married_?”

Andrew rolls his eyes. “Not yet. But it’s only matter of time.”

“I still don’t understand what has this to do with me.”

Andrew shrugs. Neil doesn’t understand how he can act like this wasn’t a big deal. Andrew just asked him to fly to a freaking Germany. “I promised Nicky I’ll ask you, that’s all.”

Neil frowns. “Nicky wants me to go?”

“Yes.”

Of course Nicky wants him to go, it was stupid to ask. “And you think it’s a good idea if I do?”

“Aaron is bringing Katelyn.”

Neil doesn’t see how this changes anything. “So?”

Andrew shrugs again. Neil usually doesn’t care about his impassive approach to everything, but now it kind of annoys him.

“Andrew, do I have to explain to you, why bringing your _fake_ boyfriend would be weird?” He asks, his voice on edge.

“No one knows you’re fake,” Andrew reminds him.

“That’s not the point!”

“What is the point then, Neil?” Andrew asks calmly, but Neil notices how Andrew’s eyes narrow at Neil’s tone. He forces himself to take a breath and count to ten before answering. He isn’t too keen on finding out how Andrew reacts to yelling.

“Nicky looks so happy when he sees the two of us together. I… I don’t know how long I can lie to him like this.” That’s true. Nicky was beaming every time he saw Andrew and Neil together and Neil didn’t know how long he can continue pretending it’s not fake.

“Okay,” Andrew says simply.

Neil really doesn’t follow his train of thoughts today. He raises an eyebrow at Andrew. “Okay?”

“We can break up.”

Oh. “Oh.” Neil knows that’s a logical thing to do, but over the time they’ve been together, he got used to “dating” Andrew. It was sort of nice, even.

“After Germany,” Andrew adds.

“Yeah, alright,” Neil agrees slowly. “Does that still mean I should go with you?”

Andrew goes back to watching the fly. “That’s up to you.”

Neil rolls his eyes. “Andrew.”

“What?” Andrew asks without looking at him.

“Yes or no?”

That makes Andrew turn back to Neil at once. “To what?” He asks suspiciously.

Neil smirks. “Me, flying to Germany.”

Andrew glares at him, obviously irritated his tactic backfired on him like this. “You are terrible,” he hisses at Neil, but then after few seconds he adds quietly: “Yes.”

That’s how Neil ends up on the airport along with Andrew, Nicky, Aaron and Katelyn. He doesn’t mind airports. There’s lot of people and it’s easy to get lost, so Neil feels weirdly safe.

He offered to go for a coffee, because he didn’t think he could stand Aaron’s disapproving glare any longer. Aaron’s mood wasn’t as bad as usual though, since Katelyn was at his side, but he still threw nasty looks at Neil every chance he got. Neil wasn’t sure whether he admired Katelyn or pitied her for being with Aaron.

When Neil returns with the coffee, he realizes Andrew isn’t with the rest. “Where’s Andrew?”

“Over there,” Nicky answers and nods to the other side of the waiting lounge.

Andrew’s standing with his back to them, looking out of the big windows, watching the planes and the weather. Neil walks to him, but Andrew doesn’t acknowledge his presence.

“Are you alright?” Neil asks slowly. There’s obvious tension in Andrew’s shoulders and Neil isn’t sure what caused it.

Andrew hums in response. He takes the coffee when Neil hands him the cup but doesn’t drink it.

“You don’t like planes?” Neil asks as Andrew frowns at the runway.

Andrew shrugs. “Big metal box flying 35 000 feet above the ground isn’t my favorite kind of transport, if that’s what you mean.”

And Neil finally understands. “You’re afraid of heights.”

It’s a statement, not a question, so he doesn’t expect Andrew to answer, but Andrew simply says: “Everyone’s afraid of something.”

Neil isn’t sure how to reply to that. “Planes are much safer than cars, do you know that?”

Andrew isn’t amused by that. He frowns at the planes outside even more. “Neil.”

“Yes?”

“Shut up.”

Neil isn’t stupid enough to keep talking when Andrew looks like he’d be able to kill him in this mood.

Neil keeps an eye on Andrew the whole time when boarding onto the plane. Andrew grows more tense with every second. When they are seated and waiting, Andrew gazes straight ahead of him, gripping at the edge of his armrest with such force Neil is sure, he’s going to rip it off.

“Andrew?” He calls him softly.

Andrew doesn’t take his eyes of the seat in front of him. “What,” he growls.

“Hold my hand; yes or no?” Neil asks and reaches his hand to Andrew.

Andrew takes a breath and glares at Neil’s hand. He doesn’t move for few seconds, but then resignedly lets go of the armrest and slips his hand into Neil’s. His usually light grip is long gone; he’s holding onto Neil as if his life depended on it and he doesn’t let go until they reach the cruising altitude.

The flight is smooth but impossibly long and when Neil assures himself Andrew is fine, still bit tense but much better now, he allows himself to close his eyes for a while.

He wakes up some time later, unsure how long he’s slept, with his face buried in Andrew’s shoulder. He pulls away instantly and gazes at Andrew, afraid of his reaction. To Neil’s surprise, Andrew is reading a book and doesn’t pay attention to him.

“Sorry,” Neil mumbles and rubs his eyes.

“Don’t,” Andrew replies without taking his eyes of the page.

“I didn’t ask,” Neil points out slowly.

“You were asleep.”

Neil shakes his head. “Still.”

Andrew sighs. “It was a yes.”

That relaxes Neil a bit. “You are getting soft,” he sneers with a smile.

“I’m going to push you off this stupid plane,” Andrew threatens him without much heat in his voice.

Neil smirks. “I’d drag you with me.”

Andrew rolls his eyes and Neil is sure he already regrets taking Neil with him.

After they land, they all get sleepily out of the plane. Only Nicky seems to be buzzing with energy and he keeps hurrying them.

They finally get all their luggage, but Nicky drops his suitcase as soon as he spots his boyfriend Erik and runs into his waiting arms. Neil can’t help but smile at that.

Nicky then introduces Neil and Katelyn – Aaron translates for her, and after brief chitchat, they set on the ride to their hotel. Nicky is staying with Erik, of course, but there isn’t enough space for all of them, so they end up in nearby hotel.

They have suites right next to each other and neither of the four of them are very happy about it. Even Katelyn doesn’t seem to be looking forward to be in such a close space with Andrew, for which Neil can’t really blame her.

Neil freezes as soon as they get to their room. Somehow he didn’t realize he and Andrew are going to share a bed. Sure, they’ve shared bed before, but now it’s going to be the whole week in a row.

Andrew doesn’t seem concerned with the sleeping arrangements. Since he hasn’t slept on the plane, he looks like walking dead. He disappears into the bathroom and then goes straight to bed, falling asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow.

Neil chuckles softly. He goes to take a shower as well and when he gets back there’s a soft knock on the door.

When he opens, Katelyn is standing there, looking rather relieved it’s Neil who answered the door. “We were thinking of getting some dinner, if you want to join,” she says with a smile.

“Oh. Andrew’s already asleep.”

“Well, you can still go with us,” she offers.

Neil considers agreeing to that, just to piss Aaron off, but then decides it’s not worth it. “Thanks, but I think I’ll go to bed as well.”

And although he does go to bed afterwards – Andrew stirs when Neil slips beside him, but doesn’t wake up – he just lies there for the longest time, looking up at the ceiling, unable to sleep. He keeps persuading himself it’s just jet lag.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “There was only one bed” trope strikes again!  
> Also there’s 11 chapters instead of 10 now? How did that happen? I’m literally unable to plan anything, so don’t count on the 11 either, it’s just my presumption.  
> Thanks so much for reading!


	9. Monster’s getting soft

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aaron is a dick and it has consequences

Neil doesn’t have many memories of Germany. He spent few weeks there when he was twelve, but he hardly remembers it. He picked up his german in Austria, which results in Erik making fun of his accent and Nicky being concerned Andrew is going to gut Erik for it. But Neil doesn’t mind and Andrew is actually behaving strangely nice, compared to his usual self. He even tolerates the presence of his twin and his girlfriend. Neil is sure it’s mostly for Nicky’s sake.

Nicky drags them around the sights, constantly babbling about something. Neil doubts he’s ever seen Nicky so happy. Nicky’s so excited he switches between english and german without second thought and sometimes talks to Erik for several minutes in english before realizing Erik understands him only about half of the words.

Neil didn’t expect to have so much fun. Even Andrew seems like having a good time. His favorite activity is to pretend he doesn’t understand a word of german whenever some stranger tries to talk to him, which Neil finds incredibly amusing. Sometimes Neil joins in when the people turn out to be able to speak english as well and starts rambling in spanish or french. He definitely doesn’t do it just to see Andrew chuckle.

Everything is fine until the third day of their trip rolls around and Neil overhears conversation between Andrew and Aaron. He didn’t mean to eavesdrop on them, but they aren’t being exactly quiet. They are in front of the door to Andrew and Neil’s suite, speaking in english for change. Neil didn’t catch the beginning of the argument, he was in the shower, but he doubts he needed to.

“I still don’t understand why you dragged him here with us,” Aaron hisses at Andrew and Neil doesn’t have to be a genius to figure out who is Aaron talking about.

“Stop it, Aaron,” Andrew growls, his voice low and dangerous. Neil doesn’t dare to open the door to see either of their faces but it’s not hard to imagine it.

Aaron ignores him. “I mean, can he even leave the States?”

“He’s not a criminal,” Andrew retorts.

“He was raised like one!”

“He isn’t dangerous.”

“Yeah? What about the knives, Andrew? Do you know what his father could do with them?”

Neil grits his teeth. He has an urge to remind Aaron that his father’s favorite weapon of choice was cleaver, not a knife.

“For the last time, Neil is _not_ his father,” Andrew hisses, his voice almost trembling with anger. Neil doesn’t like where this is going.

“I just don’t want this to end up like it did with Drake.”

Neil doesn’t know who Drake is, but based on the silence that follows he has few ideas. Then he hears a thump, as if body hit a wall, and Andrew’s quiet voice. “Don’t you dare to compare Neil to him.”

Neil isn’t sure whether he wants to interfere, but then he hears Katelyn’s surprised yelp. That’s when he decides to open the door and peek into the hall. Andrew is pressing Aaron against the wall, knife at his throat and cold look in his eyes. Aaron isn’t looking at him though, he’s staring at Katelyn, who’s few feet away from them, hand over her mouth, clearly frightened.

“Andrew, let go of him,” she says, her voice shaking.

Andrew pointedly ignores her.

“Andrew,” Neil calls him cautiously. He’s sure talking him down won’t help now. He needs to redirect his attention elsewhere. “Nicky’s waiting for us,” he reminds him. “We’ll be late.”

Andrew glares at him but then lets go of Aaron and hides the knife. Without another look at his twin or Katelyn, he walks towards the elevator as if nothing happened.

Neil sighs and goes after him. When he catches up with him, Andrew flatly asks: “Yes or no?”

Neil isn’t sure to what he’s agreeing, but it doesn’t really matter to him. “Yes.”

Andrew grabs his hand and makes a point of holding it for the rest of the afternoon, much to Aaron’s annoyance.

What amazes Neil even more is that Andrew stays mad at Aaron for the next several days and his revenge takes strange form. He keeps holding Neil’s hand every occasion he gets, steals food from Neil’s plate and basically acts very affectionately and Aaron is furious with the both of them, but Nicky is having the time of his life.

Neil is unsure how to react to all of this. He knows very well Andrew’s affection is fake and he only does all these things to get back at Aaron, but it still feels… nice. He allows Andrew to do whatever he wants, of course, but doesn’t miss the weird warm feeling in his stomach whenever Andrew holds his hand.

But then they have a picnic in nearby park and Andrew lies down with his head in Neil’s lap.

Neil is so shocked by that, he freezes for few seconds, unable to grasp what’s happening.

“Stop freaking out, Josten,” Andrew hums in quiet voice without opening his eyes.

It takes several minutes for Neil to calm down and when he does, he doesn’t resist asking: “Can I touch your hair?”

“Yes.”

Neil carefully runs his hand through Andrew’s hair. Andrew tenses a bit at the first touch, but relaxes before Neil can pull away.

So Neil listens to Nicky and Erik’s conversation and plays with Andrew’s hair and kind of wishes they could be here longer.

At some point Neil decides it’d be a good idea to braid some flowers into Andrew’s hair and when Nicky realizes what he’s doing, he immediately has his phone out, taking million pictures of them.

Andrew opens one eye to glare at both Neil and Nicky, but doesn’t care enough to stop either of them.

In the evening, Nicky sends Neil the pictures and Neil decides to send one of them to Allison.

Her response is immediate. _Looks like the monster’s getting soft_. _Cute._

Neil smirks.

It continues in similar way until the last day. That’s when Neil wakes up with Andrew already gone from the bed and when Neil finally finds him having breakfast in the hotel restaurant, he has distant look in his eyes and glares at Neil when he joins him by the table.

Neil’s clever enough to sense something is off and it’d be better to keep his distance from Andrew and wait for him to make the first step.

Only that Andrew doesn’t. He doesn’t talk to anyone that day and avoids touching Neil. Aaron notices that and smirks at Neil and Neil wonders whether he could use one of Andrew’s knives.

“What’s wrong with him?” Nicky asks Neil in hushed voice over lunch when Andrew disappears into bathroom.

Neil frowns at Nicky. “Nothing’s _wrong_ with him. He just needs some space.”

Nicky gives him suspicious look but doesn’t question him further.

In the evening Neil catches Andrew eyeing their bed with unreadable expression on his face.

“I’ll sleep on the floor,” Neil offers.

Andrew glares at him. “Why would you do that?” It’s the first sentence he said all day.

Neil shrugs. “Because you don’t want me in your space.”

“Stop assuming what I want,” Andrew retorts.

“You didn’t want me anywhere around you the whole day,” Neil points out and takes his pillow from the bed. “It’s okay that you need space.”

“I hate you,” Andrew tells him in response but doesn’t stop him when Neil takes his blanket as well.

Neil smiles at him. “Sure.”

Andrew rolls his eyes at him and climbs into the bed. Neil is used to sleeping on the floor, so he doesn’t mind.

Neil’s almost asleep when he hears Andrew whisper: “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he replies and can’t help but think this is the first time Andrew showed him a genuine emotion. Not that it means anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NEIL BRAIDS FLOWERS INTO ANDREW’S HAIR!  
> It’s probably super ooc but do I care? No. Fuck cannon, they are soft!  
> Thanks for reading! <3


	10. Fake breakups don’t hurt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Andrew and Neil end their fake relationship :(

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and we’re back to pov of Andrew-let’s repress every gay thought I have about Neil-Minyard  
> Enjoy

Andrew assumed Germany is going to be bigger shit-storm than it turned out to be. Yes, Aaron was being a dick, but that was no surprise and Andrew was quite satisfied with his revenge.

The thing that surprised him was the last day. He woke up from a very real nightmare and was in terrible mood because of it all day and Neil just went out of his way without questions? Andrew was under the impression Neil needed things spelled out, but now it looked like he knew exactly what to do. Fuck, he even slept on the floor. Andrew would probably kick him out of the bed anyway, or sleep on the floor himself, but Neil just offered it out of the blue and it took Andrew by surprise.

The flight back home is excruciating. Andrew tries to ignore Nicky, who’s sitting one row in front of him, complaining loudly about missing Erik already. He tries to ignore Katelyn, doing her best to console Nicky. And mostly, he tries to ignore Neil, who’s asleep again, though this time he’s keeping his distance from Andrew, and looks so pretty it’s painful.

Andrew grits his teeth. So what if Neil’s pretty? There’s plenty of pretty guys. So what if Neil is also considerate and smart and funny and Andrew doesn’t mind spending his time with him? It doesn’t matter because they have a deal. And as soon as they get back from Germany their fake relationship ends. And Andrew is totally fine with that.

Neil doesn’t seem to be disturbed by the prospect of the breakup, so Andrew pretends he isn’t either.

“Do you want to make like a big dramatic scene?” Neil asks amusedly. They are in Neil’s apartment, few days after the return from Germany. Andrew is sitting on Neil’s bed, nursing a cup of coffee and avoiding Neil’s eyes. Neil’s sitting on the floor near Andrew, fidgeting with a pencil, his math homework laying forgotten beside him.

“No. We’ll tell everyone we’re staying friends.”

Neil gazes at him in surprise, but it quickly changes into smirk. “Aw, you don’t want to stop seeing me?” He asks teasingly.

Andrew considers pouring the hot coffee on him. “I don’t want anything,” he reminds Neil flatly. Andrew doesn’t tell him that if they had a dramatic scene, Nicky would be more upset and disturbed and Aaron would want to hunt Neil down. He also doesn’t tell him that he indeed doesn’t want to stop seeing Neil all together. Someone has to still teach him the knife-throwing after all.

“When do you plan to tell Nicky?” Neil asks.

Andrew shrugs. “I’m meeting him later in the afternoon.”

“Oh. Today?”

Andrew studies Neil face. “Is that too soon?” He asks casually.

Neil quickly shakes his head. “No. It’s fine.” He looks up at Andrew from under his eyelashes and Andrew grips at his cup a bit tighter. “It was fun.”

“What?”

Neil gestures between them. “This fake dating thing.”

Andrew rolls his eyes. “You need a hobby, Josten.”

Neil gives him a flat look. “Don’t tell me you didn’t have fun.”

“If I say I did, will you drop it?”

Neil chuckles. “You are unbelievable.”

“I’ve been told,” Andrew deadpans.

Neil just shakes his head and goes back to his math problems. Andrew watches him frown at the paper and bite the end of the pencil.

“Staring,” Neil mumbles without taking his eyes of the homework.

Andrew rolls his eyes, but doesn’t try to deny it.

The meeting with Nicky wasn’t great. Andrew hasn’t been so resentful towards seeing his cousin for a long time.

Sure enough, the first thing Nicky asked was: “Where’s Neil?”

So Andrew was forced to say: “Neil and I broke up.”

As he expected, Nicky was lost for words. When he got himself a bit together, he immediately started questioning Andrew. “How did it happen? You looked so happy together! That’s not possible!”

Andrew just shrugged. “We realized we want different things and agreed it’s better if we just stay friends.”

It was the most basic excuse he could probably come up with, but he didn’t really care. He just wanted this to be over.

“Oh, Andrew I’m so sorry.”

It continued like that for about an hour, before Andrew managed to escape back to his apartment and now when the doorbell rings he starts to worry Nicky decided to continue his pity party.

But when he, rather unwillingly, opens the door, it’s his twin who’s standing there. Andrew is definitely not in mood to deal with him. “Kevin’s not here.”

Aaron smirks. “I didn’t come because of Kevin.”

That’s what Andrew was afraid of. Maybe he could close the door and pretend Aaron never came? “What did Josten do?” Aaron asks before Andrew can do that.

Andrew sighs. Of course Nicky had to tell him. “Josten didn’t do anything,” Andrew replies and resignedly steps aside to let Aaron in. He’d rather not have this discussion in the hallway.

“Why did you break up?” Aaron continues in the same cool tone.

“Didn’t Nicky dearest tell you?” Andrew retorts.

Aaron frowns at him. “Don’t give me that ‘we wanted different things’ bullshit, Andrew. You’re always so keen on repeating you want nothing. Now tell me what did Josten do or I’ll go and get the answers from him some other way.”

Andrew snorts. The idea of Aaron threatening Neil was comical. “Be my guest.”

Aaron isn’t amused. “ _Andrew_.”

Andrew does his best impression of Aaron’s voice. “ _Aaron_.”

Aaron sighs deeply. “Could you just tell me?”

Andrew doesn’t want to have this conversation, especially not with his twin. “There’s nothing to tell.”

Aaron crosses his arms against his chest and flicks Andrew a tired look. “I’m not leaving until you tell me the truth,” he announces stubbornly.

Andrew smirks. “Good luck living with Kevin.”

“God, you’re insufferable,” Aaron groans. “Just promise me he didn’t hurt you.”

Andrew’s smile freezes. He isn’t sure whether he’s surprised Aaron cares or mad that Aaron thinks Neil would be able to hurt him. “He didn’t,” Andrew says, the amused tone long gone.

Aaron gives him a suspicious glance and it’s obvious he doesn’t believe him.

Andrew sighs. “We weren’t actually dating,” he says at last. He’s tired, he has nothing to lose and he doubts Aaron would tell Nicky the truth.

Aaron stares at him with confused expression. “What?”

So Andrew explains. “Nicky wanted to set me up on a date, so I asked Neil to be my fake boyfriend.”

It takes an eternity for Aaron to process that. “But… You took him to Germany with us! And you were all over each other there. Are you telling me that was fake as well?”

“Yes.”

Aaron shakes his head. “I don’t believe you. You aren’t such a great actor and I doubt Josten is either.”

Andrew just returns his glare. He told him the truth, he’s not going to spend his time and energy on convincing him of it.

“You allowed him to touch you!” Aaron continues angrily.

“I did,” Andrew agrees calmly.

“Just to mess with Nicky? That’s too far even for you.”

“If you say so.”

“Andrew. Do you actually not _feel_ anything to him?”

Andrew shrugs, carefully avoiding answering.

Aaron shakes his head in dismissal. “I can’t believe I was actually concerned about you.”

“Is that all?” Andrew asks wryly.

Aaron sighs. “I didn’t like him, Andrew. But you looked happy with him.”

And with that he leaves Andrew standing in the middle of his apartment, unable to think of anything to retort.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Even Aaron sees it wasn’t fake  
> Thanks for reading <3


	11. Let’s swing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neil and Andrew haven’t seen each other for a while and accidentaly run into each other at a party ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Neil-I don’t swing-Josten is about to do some serious swinging. Also Renison!  
> Enjoy

Neil hates negotiating with Allison. Mostly because she always gets what she wants. Neil was often told he was stubborn, but it was nothing compared to Allison. Once she set her mind on something, she wasn’t letting it go. Just like now. “You are coming,” she repeats firmly.

Neil has been having this argument with her for over half an hour and he is tired. “It’s a school event. It’s not even a party. Why do you want to go?”

“It’s fancy and therefore great opportunity to show off my new dress.”

Uh. Neil doesn’t care for dresses nor fancy parties. He doesn’t give shit that it’s the university’s anniversary or something. He doesn’t want to leave his apartment to go to a stupid party. 

“I could get you a date,” Allison suggests.

At this point Neil pretty much accepts Allison will drag him there, but there’s no way she’s getting him a date. Fuck, why couldn’t he and Andrew “date” for a bit longer? “Please don’t. I’m perfectly fine with suffering there on my own,” he retorts wryly.

Allison sits on his bed next to him. “Aw, come on. You have to get over the monster.”

Neil frowns. “Don’t call him that,” he hisses.

“Why do you care now?”

“We broke up on good terms,” Neil reminds her. He personally couldn’t imagine anyone breaking up with Andrew on good terms, but he didn’t mention that.

Allison clearly thinks the same, because she gives him a very unconvinced look. “I still don’t understand it,” she says then. “What was the problem? I mean, it looked like you were made for each other, in some weird way.”

Neil sighs. Allison was eager for details ever since he told her about the breakup, details which he did not have, apart from the fact that he and Andrew were still friends or whatever they’ve been before. And he wasn’t very keen on making up more stuff than he necessarily had to. He wonders how’s Andrew dealing with Nicky, who’s surely worse than Allison. Neil hasn’t spoken to Andrew in over two weeks and even though he hated to admit it, he missed it. But they are supposed to be broken up and they agreed to avoid each other for a while, just so it’d look authentic. Neil wasn’t fan of this tactic.

“Did you love him?” Allison asks all of sudden and Neil snaps out of his thoughts.

 _Love him?_ Definitely not. Sure, he enjoyed Andrew’s company and possibly dating him, but love? No, no, no.

But he really, really doesn’t want to explain any of this to Allison. Not now, not ever. “I don’t want to talk about Andrew, okay?”

Fortunately Allison lets it go. “Okay. Sorry.”

“Who are _you_ taking to the party thing?” Neil asks quickly to redirect her attention elsewhere.

She smiles smugly. “Renee Walker.”

Neil raised an eyebrow. Wasn’t Renee a girl’s name? “Oh.”

“Oh?”

“That’s nice,” he manages. He was sure Renee, whoever it was, was definitely better than half of the guys Allison usually dated.

“I was sort of tired of men,” Allison explains. Neil gazes at her and she smiles. “Not you. You are a sweetheart.”

He smirks. “Thanks.”

“Let me know if you change your mind about the date,” she says before leaving his room.

He rolls his eyes. “I won’t,” he calls after her, but doesn’t get a reply. He prays she’ll be too preoccupied with her own date to focus on him.

  
For once Allison listens to him and decides not to torture him with a date. What she does torture him with though is a shopping spree. “It’s a fancy event, Neil, you said it yourself. You have to look presentable.”

The last thing Neil cares about is looking presentable, but allows Allison to drag him from shop to shop, because he knows better than to stop her.

He ends up with a suit. “Isn’t that a bit too much?” He asks her unsurely in the evening, half an hour before they have to leave.

She rolls her eyes at him. “ _No._ ”

Neil watches the suit, still on the hanger. It’s navy blue and Allison keeps repeating it goes great with his auburn hair. Neil isn’t too convinced but at least she didn’t force him into wearing a tie. “Allison, I’m serious.”

“Less talking back, more dressing up.”

Neil sighs and starts dressing. He wishes he could just stay home.

The party is held in the university’s main building, where apparently used to be balls of all kind in the past. The whole place is full of people even though they show up pretty early and Neil positively hates it.

Allison meets up with Renee, who on the first look seems like a ray of sunshine with her rainbow hair and angelic face and Neil doesn’t remember when was the last time he saw Allison blush this hard.

Although Neil doesn’t want to wander around on his own, he leaves Allison and Renee alone and goes to look for some champagne. There’s no way he’s going to suffer through the whole thing completely sober.

He has to elbow his way through the people to get to some drinks and curses his height while doing so. Even the women are much taller than him now, since almost every one is wearing high-heels.

On his way from the champagne hunt he accidentally bumps into someone. _G_ _reat_ , he thinks bitterly, _more physical contact_. “Sorry,” he mumbles and wants to disappear when he hears a familiar voice calling his name.

He turns around and sees Nicky making his way through the crowd towards him and tailing behind him – _Andrew._

Neil has almost forgotten they go to the same school, but either way he didn’t think Andrew’d ever go to a party like this.

But all of these thoughts evaporate from Neil’s mind as soon as Andrew gets closer and Neil can have a proper look at what he’s wearing. Andrew’s suit is black, smooth, elegant. Perfect. His expression is as impassive as always, but his gaze on Neil is heavy. 

Neil is staring.

“Oh my god, hi!” Nicky greets Neil excitedly and brings him into a hug before Neil can protest. “How are you?” Nicky continues cheerfully, completely oblivious to the fact Neil can’t get his eyes of Andrew.

Neil forces himself to focus on Nicky. “Fine,” he answers and tries his best to make it sound genuine.

“I was so shocked when Andrew told me you guys broke up! You just looked so happy together, you know?” Nicky says definitely more than just that, but after the first two sentences Neil stops listening. He nods from time to time to make it look like he cares about Nicky’s rambling, while thinking about _not looking at Andrew._ Who would have guessed it’d be this hard?

He starts listening to Nicky again only after Nicky says: “You know what, I’ll leave you two alone so you can catch up.”

And just like that Nicky’s gone and it’s just the two of them and Neil doesn’t know what to do with his hands. Since when is he nervous with Andrew?

“I didn’t expect you to be here tonight,” Neil mentions and hopes Andrew doesn’t notice how weird his voice sounds.

“Nicky dragged me here,” Andrew replies.

“Of course he did,” Neil mumbles more to himself than to Andrew.

Andrew seizes him. “It’s boring here. Wanna go out for a smoke?”

Neil hopes the cool air and lack of people will calm him down. “Sure.”

Andrew makes his way through the crowd and Neil obediently follows. To his great surprise Andrew doesn’t lead them outside through the main door, but up. Neil has no idea where are they going until Andrew opens some door and Neil finds himself on an abandoned… balcony? There’s a window through which he can look down at the ballroom and see great part of all the people there.

Andrew doesn’t care about the people. Instead he peeks over the edge at the ground and then retreats few steps back. Neil doesn’t even hide his smile.

Andrew ignores him. He fishes out a lighter and two cigarettes. He lights one, hands it to Neil, and then lights the other.

Neil occupies himself with watching the burning cigarette. “How have you been?” He asks without looking at Andrew.

“Fine.”

“And Nicky?”

Andrew snorts. “More annoying than usual.” He takes a drag from the cigarette. “I told Aaron.”

Neil gazes at him in confusion. “What?”

“That we weren’t actually dating.”

“Oh?”

Andrew shrugs. “He was sniffing around. It was easier to just tell him the truth.”

Neil doesn’t question that. He doubts Aaron would tell Nicky. “Okay.”

After that they smoke in silence. The sun went down and it’s getting dark and cold, but it’s better here than down.

Neil looks through the window again. He spots Allison dancing with Renee, both of them smiling.

“I never learnt how to dance,” he mentions pensively. Of course there weren’t exactly many opportunities for things like that on the run.

Andrew follows his gaze down and smirks. “You call _that_ dancing? They’re just swinging from side to side.”

Neil shrugs. “I don’t think I’m good at swinging either.”

Andrew studies him for a moment, then sighs, flicks his unfinished cigarette onto the ground and steps to Neil. “Come on then. Let’s swing.”

Neil gapes at him. “W-what?”

Andrew rolls his eyes and reaches for Neil. “Yes or no?” Andrew asks before actually touching him.

“Yes.”

Once granted the permission, Andrew takes Neil’s hands and places them on his shoulders. “Just here,” he tells Neil and waits for Neil to nod before putting his own hands around Neil’s waist and pulling him bit closer. They aren’t touching otherwise, but Neil still has troubles focusing. “Okay?” Andrew asks.

Neil nods again. He tries too hard not to think about how close Andrew suddenly is. So close Neil can smell his scent and feel the warmth of his body. He pretends it’s not a big deal.

They can hear music from the inside. Neil wasn’t lying when he said he can’t dance, but Andrew doesn’t seem to mind. He leads and Neil follows. It’s indeed mostly swinging from side to side, nothing too difficult and Neil is surprised to realize he is actually having fun. He looks at Andrew and finds him looking back at him, his hazel eyes deep and his gaze piercing.

Maybe it’s the champagne in his veins, maybe it’s the atmosphere of the party or maybe it’s just the fact he’s with Andrew again, but Neil can’t help saying: “I missed you.”

Andrew glares at him. “I’m going to push you off this balcony, Josten.” But his tone is almost soft.

Neil laughs. “You know I’d drag you with me.”

Andrew shakes his head but leans to Neil without dropping his gaze. “Yes or no, Neil?”

Neil looks down at Andrew’s lips. Andrew isn’t asking for a permission to _kiss_ him, right? “Yes,” Neil hears himself answering in whisper.

Andrew gives him exactly two seconds to change his mind – which Neil doesn’t – before pulling Neil in for a bruising kiss.

It’s not like the first two kisses they had before. Andrew kept some sort of distance then, but now he’s holding Neil flush against his own body and kissing him fiercely, hungrily, all teeth and tongue and Neil realizes with a start, that this is probably what it feels like to kiss Andrew without pretending.

When they pull away, they are both breathless. Andrew’s cheeks are pink and his lips red and Neil can’t pry his eyes away from him. “Andrew?” He manages when he somewhat catches his breath. He’s still holding onto Andrew’s shoulders. “Is this for real?” He asks.

Andrew’s voice doesn’t sound as impassive as always and Neil’s heart skips a beat. “Do you want it to be?”

“Yeah,” Neil answers without thinking. “Do you?”

Andrew rests his forehead against Neil’s and closes his eyes. “Yes.”

Neil is sure he’s hallucinating. He and Andrew… actually together? Neil smiles at the thought. “Nicky is going to have a heart attack when he finds out,” he mentions quietly.

Andrew huffs a laugh and it’s the first time Neil’s heard him laughing. He can’t get enough of the sound. “Let’s not tell him so soon this time,” Andrew replies.

Neil laughs as well and kisses Andrew’s cheek. “Sounds good.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that’s it... Thanks so much for making it this far! <3


End file.
